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Ryan Knaus

Saturday Dose

Feeling Parker's Pain

Goran Dragic checked himself out of Friday's game for good after slamming into Devin Harris in the third quarter, and we'll be keeping a close eye out for updates. He's averaging a double-double since the All-Star break with 15.3 points and 10.7 assists, while rounding out his line with 1.4 threes, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 steals. In the face of those gaudy numbers, it’s easy to overlook his 4.0 turnovers per game and his lousy FG shooting (40.4 percent) and FT shooting (68.0 percent). Kendall Marshall is the likely fill-in PG if Dragic is forced to miss any games, but Marshall’s turnover ratio this season (1.8-to-1.0) does not inspire confidence. Neither does his shaky jumper.

The Suns have somehow pulled off three consecutive victories, holding their opponents to 90.3 points per game, though the benefits have not accrued to fantasy owners (aside from Dragic, as mentioned above). Jared Dudley, Marcin Gortat and Luis Scola each started on Friday yet finished with single-digit points in under 21 minutes of action. Jermaine O’Neal chipped in 12 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes and he continues to hover around fantasy value while threatening DNPs at every turn. The Morris brothers each played 28-29 minutes and scored in double-digits, with Marcus pitching in four 3-pointers, but I’d be shy about picking up either one off the waiver wire. And if anyone is still keeping tabs on Michael Beasley, he finished Friday’s victory with one missed shot, one turnover and one personal foul in eight minutes. Glorious.

Derrick Favors flopped in an unrestricted start at PF, scoring eight points and grabbing seven rebounds before fouling out in just 21 minutes of action. Nobody should be surprised. Just before the draft deadline, I wrote this in my 'deadline stash candidates' column – "Favors has been one of the premier stashes all season ... Be forewarned, however, that Favors also averages 5.0 personal fouls per 36 minutes, so the availability of playing time isn't a guarantee that he'll average 35+ minutes." Bingo. He should fare much better if Big Al and/or Millsap are forced to miss Monday's game vs. the Bucks, but their status has yet to be determined.

On the plus side, Enes Kanter lived up to his per-minute hype in a start at center, racking up 23 points (10-of-12 FGs, 3-of-4 FTs), 22 rebounds, one assist and one block. He turned the ball over five times, and this massive line came against the Bobcats' league-worst frontcourt, but those are piddling concerns after this monstrous 23 & 22 performance. The impending returns of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap spoil any long-term upside for Kanter for this season, but that shouldn't prevent him from being owned in every single keeper league -- both Big Al and Millsap are unrestricted free agents this summer, and the end result ought to be an exponentially bigger role for Kanter in 2013-14.

Beyond the big men, this game was almost indecipherable for fantasy purposes -- Earl Watson spearheaded the offense with zero points and two assists in 12 minutes, and Marvin Williams lived up to expectations with one point in 17 minutes, while the bench combined to score 57 points while trouncing the Bobcats' sad-sack second unit. Alec Burks had 10 points, seven rebounds, two steals and one block in 29 minutes, but despite a steadily increasing role his fantasy value is scuttled by awful shooting (39.8 percent FGs, 67.4 percent FTs), combined with relatively high TOs (1.2 in under 18 minutes per game). I looked this up out of curiosity, and it turns out that 12.7 percent of Burks' possessions this season have ended with a turnover, a ratio which ties him for 77th in the NBA alongside Andre Iguodala, Jason Maxiell, O.J. Mayo, Aaron Brooks and Jeff Teague.

I was thrilled to see Tobias Harris going off yet again on Friday, torching the Rockets for a career-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting, with three 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, two assists and one steal. In four games with Orlando he’s averaging 20.0 points, 1.3 threes, 7.3 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks, despite coming off the bench and navigating Al Harrington's return to the rotation. Yes, the Magic are bound to develop Moe Harkless (13 points, three 3s in 29 minutes) and Andrew Nicholson (17 points in 17 minutes) down the stretch, but the numbers above prove that a bench role doesn’t preclude Harris from having sustainable value. He can play both SF and PF and the odds are good that Harkless and/or Nicholson will struggle on any given night, which opens things up for Harris. Even better, the Magic do have incentive to develop him – he's owed a reasonable $1.6 million next season, followed by a $2.5 million team option in 2014-15 and a $3.6 million qualifying offer in 2015-16. I began this paragraph by saying that I was thrilled to see Harris play well – that’s partly because I picked him up in multiple leagues, and partly because I may get to use a dream headline if he hits a rough patch in the coming weeks – Arrested Development: Tobias in a Fünke.

With that bit of fun out of the way, here's the unfortunate headline: Tony Parker sprained his ankle on Friday and the latest word is that he'll miss approximately four weeks. Parker was a candidate for precautionary DNPs during busy stretches of the Spurs' schedule anyway, and this devastating injury will force most owners to cut him -- a return on April 1st, for instance, would leave Parker with nine games remaining on the Spurs' schedule. Gary Neal is the most likely source of fill-in fantasy value once he returns from his sore left calf (doubtful for Sunday), but the Spurs depth is remarkable and we should see more output across the board -- more minutes could spill over to Manu, Cory Joseph, Nando De Colo, Patty Mills, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, and even Stephen Jackson (ankle) whenever he's healthy. For what it's worth, Mills and De Colo were on the court together for most of the garbage-time fourth quarter on Friday. And in Parker's four DNPs this season, Patty Mills has started twice and Nando De Colo has started three times (one extra at SG when Danny Green was also injured). Although I'm not convinced there will be any clear winners, I'd lean toward scooping up De Colo, then Mills, then Neal whenever he returns from injury.

Shifting to Friday’s game in our nation’s capital, James White started at SF for the visiting Knicks but he finished scoreless in just 10 minutes of action, which says more than necessary about his lack of fantasy appeal. Mike Woodson sent Jason Kidd to the bench even though the ‘Bockers were riding a three-game win streak, which they extended to four games vs. the Wizards. J-Kidd still wound up logging 27 minutes, scoring four points with three rebounds, five assists and one steal. After a red-hot start to the season he has noticeably slowed down, no surprise for a 39-year-old who has logged just under 50,000 minutes in 1,364 career games. A shift to a bench role, where he's chasing lesser players and presumably playing fewer minutes, should keep him a bit fresher for the playoffs, which is when the Knicks will really need him. Kidd's perimeter defense was an enormous reason the Mavericks won the championship in 2011, and he'll need to be rested to even approach such a performance this postseason. The shifting roles didn't seem to affect J.R. Smith, who scored 13 points (including three 3-pointers) with a season-high 11 rebounds, two assists and three steals in 31 minutes. Pablo Prigioni is still battling back spasms and he did not play.

Nene didn’t play vs. the Knicks, missing his second straight game due to a sore shoulder. The Wizards have refused to sound any alarms about the injury, but it's now sidelined Nene for nearly a week, and his owners should be on red alert for updates. I'm not saying that his injury is serious (all reports suggest that it isn't) but we're talking about a veteran big man with an injury history who is playing for a lottery-bound team in March and April. A.J. Price (thigh) was also on the sidelines, which forced John Wall to play a season-high 42 minutes. He had 16 points, six assists, five turnovers, three steals and one block, and it’s nice to see him happily logging so many minutes after averaging under 30 per game in January and February.

Bradley Beal continues to torch opponents post-All Star break, and he lit up the Knicks for a team-high 28 points on Friday, making 10-of-19 FGs (4-of-6 from downtown) with nine rebounds, two assists and only one turnover. Shot selection was a nagging problem for Beal early this season, subsequently ruining his FG percentage and thus hampering his fantasy appeal, but he's making light work of the rookie learning curve. He finished February averaging 17.5 points, 1.8 threes, 5.1 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game…and those numbers include a 17-minute dud in his return from injury, because I'm too lazy to re-do the math without that game.

Still sleeping on Trevor Ariza? You shouldn't be. Though stuck in a bench role behind Martell Webster (nine points, five rebounds in 33 minutes on Friday), Ariza continues to post fantasy-worthy numbers. Friday vs. the Knicks he accumulated 15 points, two 3-pointers, six boards, five assists and two steals in 30 minutes, solidifying his borderline top-50 value in the past month (nine-cat). His FG percentage is a potential landmine (41.1 percent this season, 42.9 percent career) but most owners would be happy to have his across-the-board stats.

While we’re speaking of undervalued do-it-all swingmen who could start for many teams but are coming off the bench after being injured to start the season...Wilson Chandler is the truth. He's averaged just 22 minutes per game with Denver’s second unit since returning from hip surgery, but on Friday he played 36 minutes and racked up a team-high 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting (including 6-of-7 from deep) with three rebounds, one assist and four turnovers. He didn't have any steals or blocks, but that's unusual since his per-36 minute averages are 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocks.

Danilo Gallinari (seven points in 22 minutes) was returning from a bruised thigh, so his owners shouldn't be too concerned, but as I've noted before Chandler tends to steal minutes from Kenneth Faried, who finished last night's game with four points and four boards in 18 minutes. In case you're still skeptical, consider this information – Chandler appears in four of the Nuggets' 20 most-frequent five-man lineups, and Faried appears in 10 of them, yet the two players don't overlap. I don't have exact data on how much time they've spent on the court together this season, but it's minimal. The upshot is that Faried's value has taken a sizable (and unforeseen) hit in the latter half of the season. And despite Chandler's muted playing time and bench role, he's returning seventh-round value in the past dozen games.

The Thunder were the victims of Chandler’s outburst, falling on the road despite getting 38 points from Russell Westbrook, who made 12-of-23 FGs and 12-of-17 FTs, with two 3-pointers, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. He even limited himself to three turnovers. The best news for owners might be that Scott Brooks doesn’t have a history of resting his players late in the season – Westbrook has yet to miss a game in his NBA career and Brooks isn’t likely to slap him with any DNP-CDs, though he did hold WB to under 30 minutes a few times in April the past few years. Kevin Durant’s owners can be similarly sure that he’ll play his usual role in the season’s final two months – he played in all 66 games last year, averaging 38.2 minutes in the final two weeks of the season. The Thunder stars are safer than Treasury bonds, but fantasy owners also shouldn’t undervalue Thabo Sefolosha, who has quietly posted sixth-round value in nine-cat leagues this season. What’s more, since the All-Star break Thabo has been the overall No. 14 player (again, nine-cat), averaging 12.4 points, 2.0 threes, 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks with stellar percentages…and he’s doing it in just under 32 minutes per game. His surge, unfortunately, seems to be quashing Kevin Martin’s value – Kmart bottomed out on Friday with three points, two rebounds and four turnovers in 24 minutes, and he’s been a liability in 12-team leagues for the past month.

Goran Dragic checked himself out of Friday's game for good after slamming into Devin Harris in the third quarter, and we'll be keeping a close eye out for updates. He's averaging a double-double since the All-Star break with 15.3 points and 10.7 assists, while rounding out his line with 1.4 threes, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 steals. In the face of those gaudy numbers, it’s easy to overlook his 4.0 turnovers per game and his lousy FG shooting (40.4 percent) and FT shooting (68.0 percent). Kendall Marshall is the likely fill-in PG if Dragic is forced to miss any games, but Marshall’s turnover ratio this season (1.8-to-1.0) does not inspire confidence. Neither does his shaky jumper.

The Suns have somehow pulled off three consecutive victories, holding their opponents to 90.3 points per game, though the benefits have not accrued to fantasy owners (aside from Dragic, as mentioned above). Jared Dudley, Marcin Gortat and Luis Scola each started on Friday yet finished with single-digit points in under 21 minutes of action. Jermaine O’Neal chipped in 12 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes and he continues to hover around fantasy value while threatening DNPs at every turn. The Morris brothers each played 28-29 minutes and scored in double-digits, with Marcus pitching in four 3-pointers, but I’d be shy about picking up either one off the waiver wire. And if anyone is still keeping tabs on Michael Beasley, he finished Friday’s victory with one missed shot, one turnover and one personal foul in eight minutes. Glorious.

Derrick Favors flopped in an unrestricted start at PF, scoring eight points and grabbing seven rebounds before fouling out in just 21 minutes of action. Nobody should be surprised. Just before the draft deadline, I wrote this in my 'deadline stash candidates' column – "Favors has been one of the premier stashes all season ... Be forewarned, however, that Favors also averages 5.0 personal fouls per 36 minutes, so the availability of playing time isn't a guarantee that he'll average 35+ minutes." Bingo. He should fare much better if Big Al and/or Millsap are forced to miss Monday's game vs. the Bucks, but their status has yet to be determined.

On the plus side, Enes Kanter lived up to his per-minute hype in a start at center, racking up 23 points (10-of-12 FGs, 3-of-4 FTs), 22 rebounds, one assist and one block. He turned the ball over five times, and this massive line came against the Bobcats' league-worst frontcourt, but those are piddling concerns after this monstrous 23 & 22 performance. The impending returns of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap spoil any long-term upside for Kanter for this season, but that shouldn't prevent him from being owned in every single keeper league -- both Big Al and Millsap are unrestricted free agents this summer, and the end result ought to be an exponentially bigger role for Kanter in 2013-14.

Beyond the big men, this game was almost indecipherable for fantasy purposes -- Earl Watson spearheaded the offense with zero points and two assists in 12 minutes, and Marvin Williams lived up to expectations with one point in 17 minutes, while the bench combined to score 57 points while trouncing the Bobcats' sad-sack second unit. Alec Burks had 10 points, seven rebounds, two steals and one block in 29 minutes, but despite a steadily increasing role his fantasy value is scuttled by awful shooting (39.8 percent FGs, 67.4 percent FTs), combined with relatively high TOs (1.2 in under 18 minutes per game). I looked this up out of curiosity, and it turns out that 12.7 percent of Burks' possessions this season have ended with a turnover, a ratio which ties him for 77th in the NBA alongside Andre Iguodala, Jason Maxiell, O.J. Mayo, Aaron Brooks and Jeff Teague.

While we're digging into the Jazz, I ought to at least address the impact of Mo Williams' return, presumably sometime in mid-March. Mo was hoping to practice by March 1st but that didn't happen -- his thumb is stiff and lacks strength, and he admitted that his wrist muscles also atrophied while he was wearing a splint/cast. I'm not expecting any miracles and I wouldn't be eager to drop a productive player for Mo, who prior to his injury was the overall No. 96 player in nine-cat leagues, and the No. 73 player in eight-cat. That's not bad, certainly, and it's hard to come across a reliable source of points, 3-pointers and assists on the waiver wire, but owners should be prepared to wait a few weeks before Mo even returns late-middle round value.

Utah did have an opponent on Friday…that would be the lackluster Bobcats, losers of five straight games, who finished their loss to the Jazz with 68 points on 34.6 percent FG shooting and 58.3 percent FT shooting. Ugly lines abound and there’s no need to recap them all – if you were relying on any Bobcats, you got hosed, and not for the last time. Charlotte is dead last in the NBA in effective FG percentage, at 45.4 percent, while their opponents have the third-highest eFG percentage (51.8 percent) and the second-highest offensive rebound rate (29.8 percent).

They simply don’t have the personnel to compete – consider, for instance, that nearly one-fifth of their plays are spot-up opportunities, yet they average just 0.87 points off those chances, which also ranks last in the NBA. They rank 22nd in points per possession in transition, 29th in points off post-ups, 26th in points off putbacks, 30th in points off cuts…the list goes on. This isn’t all just to pile scorn on the Bobcats, which is redundant, but rather to point out that players on offensively inept teams typically make lousy fantasy options. Kemba Walker ranks No. 27 this season in nine-cat, Gerald Henderson ranks No. 127, Ramon Sessions ranks No. 140, Byron Mullens ranks No. 143, and that’s as good as it gets.

Anthony Davis didn’t play on Friday due to a bone bruise in his left shoulder, and he’s listed as day-to-day. The Hornets will be cautious with the face of the future Pelicans franchise, and I’d be surprised if we see him vs. the Magic on Monday. His absence didn’t prevent a victory over the Pistons, however, led by Greivis Vasquez’s 25 points, two 3-pointers, four rebounds, nine assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 36 minutes. Eric Gordon scored 21 points, Ryan Anderson had 19 & 13 in a fill-in start at PF, and even Robin Lopez added 10 points, five rebounds and five blocks in 31 minutes (giving him 12 swats in the past four games).

The Hornets end their season with a fairly middle-of-the-road schedule of 4-3-3-4-3-4-1. That includes two back-to-back sets in March, the first coming on the 9th & 10th, which should sound the alarm for Eric Gordon’s owners. Gordon scored 21 points in Friday’s win but he made only 6-of-18 FGs and he turned the ball over four times, consistent with the flaws he’s displayed all season. I’m half convinced that the team would be leaning toward shutting him down if they weren’t trying to impart some semblance of trade value before the summer. Deploy him at your own risk.

Meanwhile, the Pistons fell to the short-handed Hornets despite another big game from Brandon Knight, who scored 22 points with two 3-pointers, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. He’s averaging 27.0 points and 3.5 threes in two games since returning from his sore knee (which he says still bothers him, though you wouldn’t know it). I never realized just how reliant BK is on 3-pointers, which account for fully 37 percent of his shot attempts. His shot chart vastly favors the top of the arc, rather than the wings, and I’m interested to see if that shifts now that he’s playing more off-the-ball with Jose Calderon in town). Knight’s return has shifted Rodney Stuckey to a bench role and thus spoiled his value in most leagues – Stuckey chipped in six points, six rebounds and four dimes vs. New Orleans, while Will Bynum added seven points in 14 minutes. I've gone on long enough, and will bring this to an unceremonial ending -- if you're still hankering for more information, check out the latest player news, sift through the injury list, familiarize yourself with every team's depth chart, and read some of our other recent columns. All that, and there's still the Season Pass.

Despite residing in Portland, Maine, Ryan Knaus remains a heartbroken Sonics fan who longs for the days of Shawn Kemp and Xavier McDaniel. He has written for Rotoworld.com since 2007. You can follow him on Twitter.Email :Ryan Knaus